Three killed and many more injured in second phase of Bengal's panchayat polls

Three people were killed and many others injured when political clashes broke out during the second phase of the three-tier West Bengal panchayat elections on Monday.

"The average polling percentage is about 75 per cent till 5pm. And the figure is likely to go up as there are still long queues outside many polling stations in all three districts," a State Election Commission (SEC) official told Mail Today.

In the second phase, three crucial districts Hooghly, East Midnapore and Burdwan went to polls on Monday.

Police help one of those injured in the clashes, in which agitators threw bombs

Both Singur in Hooghly district and Nandigram in East Midnapore, known for their intense anti-land acquisition protests, exercised their franchise.

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government had passed the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011 to return 400 acres to unwilling farmers. The case is still pending before the Supreme Court.

According to a police officer, in Burdwan alone three deaths were reported with Sheikh Hasmat, the husband of a CPM candidate Monowara Bibi, being killed in a crude bomb attack at Jamuria in Madhudanga gram Panchayat.

Another person, Rajkuma Kora, was lynched after a bomb was thrown in the same area.

The third victim of the political clash was Kata Mullick, who was killed in a bomb attack in Mangalkote area in the district.

"Nothing has changed in Bengal. The TMC has adopted the same techniques of the erstwhile CPM in subjugating democracy. The red terror has been replaced by green terror now," senior state Congress leader Manas Bhuniya said.

The TMC-led West Bengal government and SEC had been at loggerheads over the schedule for conducting the panchayat polls.